Users of online social networking systems often use those systems to share online content with other users. For example, a company with a Facebook page may post an announcement of a new product on that page. A user who reads the announcement may share the announcement with other users, such as by posting a link on the user's Facebook page to the product announcement. As another example, a user who sees a product announcement on a particular web page on a company's web site (rather than on the company's Facebook page) may click a Facebook “like” button on that web page. This is an example of an “endorsement” interaction by the user with the product announcement. The number of users who have “liked” or otherwise endorsed the product may be reflected within Facebook by a counter that represents the number of users who have “liked” or otherwise endorsed the product.
Such existing mechanisms for enabling users to interact with content on online social networking systems, and for tracking such user interactions, are relatively primitive and provide companies with only very limited information about the quantity and quality of user interactions with the companies' online content. What is needed, therefore, are improved techniques for tracking the quantity and quality of user interaction with online content.